VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 95 



16. — A scorpion stung- me to-night towards nine o'clock as 

 I had put my hand on the railing of the ship, to watch some of 

 the flying fish. It was one of the small grey kind, which are 

 more poisonous than the bigger black ones. The violent pain 

 lasted till morning and the swelling three days after, though I 

 rubbed the place very much with hot oil. 



This day I often saw the above mentioned swallow coming 

 from the Din Din and Samblons, dipping into the sea ; they came 

 singly or three to five together, seldom more. I therefore 

 directed my attention to the swimming molluscs, in order to 

 discover some new kind, but I did not see any others than those 

 before described and some others known long since to among them 

 was a big medusa, which resembled the Capellata ; its divided 

 edge was sky blue, and the inner plate purply red. Mr. Dal- 

 rymple holds the birds neststo be sea eggs. I carefully looked 

 out for them as well but I did not see any others pass but the 

 Fucus Sargassum, lendigera natans triquetrus* We generally sailed 

 at two to three English miles distance from the islands, only this 

 morning weapproached the Samblans as near as a quarter of a 

 German mile, and as far as I could make out, the shores were 

 very steep. The rocks in some places had the appearance of 

 columns. One low rock looked from the distance like several 

 boats with open sails ; near by this rock was quite white, proba- 

 bly from the excrements of the birds that roosted there. A very 

 violent rain caused the scorpions and scolopendras to leave the 

 chinks of the ship ; the former took refuge in my books, and the 

 latter looked out for more sheltered places than those they had left. 



17. — We were lucky enough to-day to leave the Sambilans 

 islands and to approach the flat shore of Malacca which is covered 

 down to the sea with a peculiar kind of tree, standing erect and 

 only having single stems. All had small crowns of equal height, 

 so that they looked like reeds,t behind which the crown of high 

 trees stood out. Behind these high trees the mountains rose. 

 They were high, jagged and stretched out for a long distance; 

 they were surrounded by a bluish haze, and according to my 

 opinion they surpassed in height all the mountains I had seen 

 t No doubt Casuarinas. 



* He evidently expected to see the edible swallow's nests floating in the 

 sea, in the form of seaweed. The Facus Sargassum, etc., is the common 

 Sargasso so abundant in our seas. 



